If you have been charged with driving while your license is suspended, there are better ways to make your case than getting behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.
That self-evident fact was momentarily forgotten by a Michigan man who appeared via Zoom for a pretrial hearing in Washtenaw County District Court earlier this month, leaving the judge perplexed.
“I'm actually just pulling up to my doctor's office, so hold on a second, I'll park right now,” the man, 44-year-old Corey Harris, told Judge J. Cedric Simpson, asking for a moment before the hearing began.
Video footage from the May 15 hearing showed Harris sitting in the driver's seat of his car, wearing his glasses, fastening his seat belt, turning the wheel and looking frantically around the area for a place to park.
The judge seemed surprised not by Harris' casual tardiness but by the irony of his actions given the charges he faces.
“Are you immobile?” Judge Simpson asked Harris, who was indicted in October.
“We're on our way,” said Mr. Harris. “Yes, we're on our way,” Mr. Harris said at last, triumphantly.
Harris' lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Natalie Pate, requested a three- to four-week postponement of the case.
“Maybe I'm not understanding something,” Judge Simpson said. “Is this a driver with a suspended license?”
Mr. Pate responded: “Yes, Your Honor.”
“And he was just driving?” the judge asked slowly, confused. “And he didn't have a license?”
There was a few seconds of silence, and then Harris' face took in the horrifying reality, his mouth agape.
“Yes, Your Honor, it was filed with the complaint,” Pate replied.
Judge Simpson interjected, “No, I'm looking at his record. He doesn't have a license. He's just driving while his license is suspended.”
Mr. Pate responded: “That's correct, Your Honor.”
Harris was mostly silent, but at times seemed about to speak.
“I don't know why he would do that,” Judge Simpson said, revoking Harris' bail and ordering him to report to the county jail by 6 p.m. that same day.
Mr. Harris, mouth open, seatbelt still fastened around his torso, tilted his head back and sighed: “Oh, my God.”
The video clip ends with that response.
Jail records show Harris was booked into the Washtenaw County Jail on the evening of May 15. He eventually posted bail.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for June 5, according to court records.
A call to Pate on Wednesday evening was not immediately returned, and Harris' number was not in service.
Video of the court hearing was widely shared and was reminiscent of Zoom meeting gaffes that have surfaced during the pandemic as people struggle to adapt to the world moving online.
In 2021, a California doctor appeared in virtual court in surgical scrubs while a patient lay on an operating table. That same year, an Ohio senator joined a Zoom meeting while driving, using a background that made it look like he was inside his home.
Kirsten Noyes contributed to the research.